WASHINGTON â€” On Jan. 23, 1973, when the Supreme Court struck down laws criminalizing abortion in Roe v. Wade, President Richard M. Nixon made no public statement. But privately, newly released tapes reveal, he expressed ambivalence.

Nixon worried that greater access to abortions would foster â€œpermissiveness,â€ and said that â€œit breaks the family.â€ But he also saw a need for abortion in some cases â€” like interracial pregnancies, he said.

â€œThere are times when an abortion is necessary. I know that. When you have a black and a white,â€ he told an aide, before adding, â€œOr a rape.â€

BTW, this is why I’m in an interracial marriage. We’ll always have a choice…